Horseshoe.



M. DE ROSA.

HORSESHOE.

APPLICATION IFILED JAN. s, 1909.

952,982, Batented Mar. 22, 1910.

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MICHELE DE ROSA, 0F SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK.-

HORSESHOE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 5, 1909. Serial No. 470,892.

To all lwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MICHELE DE Rosa, a citizen of the United States, residing at Schenectady, in the county of Schenectady and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Horseshoes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to horseshoes, and has for an object to provide a shoe of this character that can be easily applied to or removed from the hoof of a horse, and which when in use can be held in an effective manner without the use of the usual nails employed heretofore in retaining shoes to the A further object of this invention is to provide hingedly connected shoe sections,

` and to arrange between the said sections at the heel end an effective bridge member for holding the shoe sections against swinging movement so that said sections may be locked or retained to the hoof of an animal, said bridge member also serving to prevent injury to the heel of a hoof by its contact with stones or the like.

A further object of my invention is to provide shoe sections provided with a plurality of removable calks.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent as the nature of the invention is better set forth, and it will be understood that changes within the scope of the claim may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawing, forming a portion of this specification and in which like numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several views Figure 1 is a perspective view of the shoe. Fig. 2 is a cross section through the shoe. Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the shoe. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the removable calks. Fig. 6 is a detail horizontal section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, there is shown a horseshoe 1 comprising arcuate sections 2 and 3 disposed in a horizontal plane and provided at their outer edges with hoof-engaging flanges 4 hingedly connected to each other as indicated at 5 so that the sections 2 and 3 may be conveniently moved toward or away from each other as will be readily understood. It may be stated that the flanges 4 are disposed approximately at an acute angle with respect to the horizontally disposed sections 2 and 3 so that said flanges effectively conform to the contour of the hoof of an animal. The sections 2 and 3 are each provided with a plurality of vertically disposed threaded passages 6 which as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing receive Shanks 7 of calks 8 of frusto-conical form provided with horizontally disposed shoulders 9 to engage the under faces of' the sections 2 and 3.

While I describe the sections 2 and 3 as being provided with the removable calks, it may be mentioned that the said calks are not absolutely essential when shoes of this character are in use during the summer, and the sections 2 and 3 may be provided at the toe and heel portions with the usual integrally formed toe and heel calks used in shoes of ordinary construction.

The section 2 of the shoe is provided at its heel end with a swinging flat bridge member 10 preferably riveted as shown at 11 to the section 2, and this bridge member is arranged to span the space between the sections 2 and 3 at the heel end of the shoe and is provided with a lug 12 at one end in which is formed a threaded passage 13 for receiving a set screw or the like 14 carried by the4 section 3 of the shoe so that the bridge member can be effectively held against swinging movement and in such position that the sections 2 and 3 are held against swinging movement. In order that the upper surface of the member 10 will lie flush with the upper surface of the sections 2 and 3 at the heel end of the shoe, I preferably form the member 10 with a vertically extending enlargement 15. To provide a perfect joint at the hinged end of the two sections of the shoe I preferably form the section 3 with a cutaway portion or recess 16 to receive a correspondingly shaped eX- tension or lu 17 of the section 2.

From the foregoing it will be readily understood that a simple and effective horseshoe is provided that can be readily applied to or removed from the hoof of a horse or animal with which the shoe is to be engaged, and by the provision of the bridge piece 10 it is obvious that the sections 2 and 3 are held engaged with a hoof without the use of nails or other similar fastening devices which heretofore have been engaged with the hoof, and I thus obviate injury to the hoof. The provision of the bridge piece 10 is also provlded to protect the heel portion Patented Mar. 22, 1.910.

which is the most sensitive part of a hoof from coming in Contact With stones or other injurious obstructions Which Would tend to injure the hoof.

I claim:

A horseshoe embodying members having horizontally disposed portions and provided with angularly disposed hoof engaging anges, one of the said horizontally disposed portions having` a recess formed therein and the other having a lug litting in the said recess, the said angularly disposed portions being hingedly connected With each other at the front of the shoe, a bridge member pivotally mounted at one of its ends to one of the members oi' the shoe, the other member of the shoe having a recess formed therein to receive the free end of the bridge member7 the said bridge member being disposed in a common plane With the horizontally disposed portions of the said shoe members, and a set screw supported by one of the shoe members and adapted for iengagement with the free end of the bridge member to hold the said bridge member against pivotal movement.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

MICHELE DE ROSA. Vitnesses CLEMENT AN'roNNio, GiAMuUsso ANGELO. 

